“Can you quit with the Titanic references?” I massage the bridge of my nose. “It’s getting old.”
“Why would I? It was the unsinkable ship. And yet…”
And yet…
“Men!” she snarls. “Fucking useless.”
And then she hangs up.
ROUND FIFTY
ROSE
“He wants to talk over dinner.” I throw a sloppy left jab. A second. I follow it up with a hook. And because she’s so damn fast, Eliza scoots to the right and slaps my hand to the side. “He’s not pressuring me or anything. He just…” I squeak and shield the side of my face, ducking from Eliza’s fist, only to ram face-first into what would be a nose-destroying knee if she weren’t as in control of her body as she is.
Far more than I am.
“He dropped by the office today and said we could get dinner and talk.”
“Cute. You want me to help you with your makeup for a date with a man who isn’t my brother?” She slips forward and ducks beneath my arm, sliding around behind me and wrapping her arm around my neck. It’s exactly what we practiced the first time I ever set foot in this gym. “What do you do, Rose?”
I lower my weight and buy myself a fraction of an inch of breathing space. “It’s not a date,” I choke out. “It’s talking.”
“It’s a date.” She tightens her grip, crushing my larynx. “What do you do?”
“Stop—”
“Sorry, babe. I’m a horny prick who likes to disrespect women. It turns me on when they cry.”
Tears burn the backs of my eyes, aching and cruel.
“Bump me back!” She slams the side of her fist to my hip and forces meback. “If a man grabs you like this, he’s not gonna talk you through it. He wants you to panic. He wants you to scream and cry and claw at his arms, because when he fucks you anyway, the sting of your nails on his skin will feel like ecstasy.”
“Get off me!”
“That’s what you’ll say. He won’t listen.” She locks her choke in, breathing heavily in my ear. “He won’t have the same training I do, so he probably won’t use the second arm. Which is good for you—since I’m teaching you how to get out of it. But he’ll be strong, and he’ll have a free hand to do whatever the hell he wants with it. Grab your tit,” she snarls. “Grab your pussy.”
“Enough!” I bump her back and whip my elbow up, slamming it against the side of her face and darting out of her hold. I stumble to my hands and knees, scrambling vertically again, then I spin back and heave, tears scorching tracks along my cheeks. “What the hell, Eliza?”
She shrugs, sliding the tip of her finger along a fresh split in her lip. She collects a smudge of blood, staring at it. Cataloging. Then she drops her hand and burns me with her fiery glare. “It’s called teaching. Anyone who grabs you against your will isn’t gonna use their manners.”
“You’re pissed because I mentioned Darcy.” I look through the octagon walls inside Tommy and Chris’ Love & War gym, where classes are typically held and fighters usually crowd. But not today. Not right now. Because it’s the middle of the day, school is in, Ollie is on shift—again—the twins decided now would be a good time to go for a run, and I think I might go insane if I spend even another minute alone with my thoughts. “Information is good, right? Collecting information is how we make educated decisions.”
She prowls. “I’m not mature enough to be your sounding board. You’re going through some shit right now, and as your friend, I get that. I understand it. But Ollie’s my brother, and there ain’t a soul in town who would tell you I’m capable of objectivity and kindness.” She sets her hands on her hips, her fingerless gloves framing abdominal muscles that ripple and flex with every step she takes. “My parents used all their kindness when they made Ollie. Then they had Raquel and used up the last of the brains. I came in third, and all I got was a sharp right hook and a smart mouth.” She purses her lips, glaring through mean blue eyes. “It is what it is. You wanna go out on a date with your fiancé, then that’s your prerogative. Can’t say I’ll lend you a slutty dress for it, though.”
“It’s not a date! And he’s not my fiancé. He’s…” That other person’s fiancé. The Rose from before Plainview. The Rose who used to live in a whole different town, and had a career she apparently loved, and friends she lacked appropriate boundaries with.God. I’m a mess.“Billy and Ramone said his story is checking out, and every rock they turn over is only confirming everything he has said as true.”
“So you wanna hang out,” she sneers. “Test the grass on the other side?”
“This doesn’t make sense to me, okay!? None of it does, because he’s telling me things I’m supposed to already know, filling in blanks I didn’t even realize I had. I kept staring at him at the police station,tryingto remember.Tryingto bring it all back. It’s right there, Eliza, hiding on the other side of the dirty glass in my brain, but it’s like a jumbled jigsaw and the pieces he’s handing me don’t fit quite right.”
“So you wanna get dinner and chat. Reignite some of the old sparks.” Her lips peel back, snide and scornful. “I don’t have it in me to cheer you on. Not when my brother’s heart is on the line.”
“I’m not trying to hurt him! I’m not trying to hurtanyone. And just so you know, I called him first, after Darcy came by the office.Hesaid I should go. He said I should hear him out.”
“Of course he did! He’s selfless like that. But, ya know what? I’m not interested in this little gossip session. I come to the gym to work. To train. If I wanted girly chit-chat, I’d open a bottle of wine.” She darts forward, slamming one knee to the canvas and wrapping her arms around my hips. Shoving me back and throwing me to the floor, she climbs over top while stars flash in my eyes. “This is called mount position. You’re completely under me, defenseless and unable to escape. Luckily for you, a man can’t fuck you like this. He’s gotta get his legs under yours.”
“You’re an asshole.” I ball my fists, flexing my arms. But she presses her weight to my wrists and pins them to the floor. “This isn’t training. This is brutality labeled differently.”
